Ian Blessing

9.2

Found this gem for 10 bucks at a shop in Napa. Delicious with mushroom balsamic pizza. Surprising amount of rich fruit for its age. Warm cherry pie, cranberry sauce, earth, smoke, chocolate, a kiss of oak. Almost too rich, this would have been a massive pinot on release. For the price, so good. — 9 years ago

Ian Blessing

9.2

Surprising wine, not big and jammy, classic zin flavors but beautifully balanced. Amador County. — 9 years ago

Ian Blessing

9.5

Spectacular as always. Started off with typical Cayuse funk that integrated pretty quickly into a kaleidoscope of rich, sweet fruit while never being cloying. Framboise, fresh raspberry, blueberry, tons of violet, and a finish that's carried by crushed black rocks. Cayuse amazes me with its intense flavors that somehow never seem overextracted or heavy. It's the domestic version of an iron fist in a velvet glove. — 9 years ago

Ian Blessing

So incredibly pretty. Blind we thought it was an old Barolo. Perfect old cab, surprised it was so alive for an 83. — 9 years ago

Ian Blessing

8.9

So much cured and smoked meat, leather, barnyard. Had Crozes written all over the nose. Went amazingly with a really funky Tomme de Savoie, bringing out incredibly bright fruit in the wine that was in the back seat without the cheese. — 9 years ago

Ian Blessing

9.2

Delicious, rich, unctuous, honeyed, tasty stone fruit. Lovely Easter brunch wine. — 9 years ago

Ian Blessing

10

Probably the best wine I have ever tasted, although it's my first example of beerenauslese. Are they all like this?! I have a feeling this was particularly special. More acid than any wine I've ever had, it carried the finish for 5 minutes. At 30 years old, this wine could easily last another 30, and I'm not sure it would shed any of its acid. I somehow feel like it would taste the same as it did today. — 9 years ago

Ian Blessing

9.5

Beautiful old nose, but still very fresh, so much rich fruit on the palate. Blind we all guessed 15 years old. Insane that this just turned 30. Cellared perfectly. — 9 years ago

Ian Blessing

9.2

Lovely red apple, honeysuckle, little bit of chalkiness, tangerine, touch of RS. Classic Vouvray. — 9 years ago

Ian Blessing

9.5

A strawberry rhubarb pie, spiced with fresh ground pepper, has been been buried in the forest and dug up after 40 years. And then you dip your fork in, getting damp foliage, dirt, and pie, all in one beautiful, elegant bite. — 9 years ago